Young halfback Jonah Pezet has weathered a brutal encounter with the Canterbury Bulldogs, guiding his side to a 26-18 victory that earns the Storm an all-important home preliminary final.
Originally named on the interchange bench, Pezet was switched into the starting thirteen an hour before kick-off and repaid his coach’s faith with a performance that included two line break assists, one try assist and a whopping 739 kick metres including a critical 40/20 that led to a try from Ativalu Lisati in the first half.
“The reason we went with him, he’s more of an organising half and he’s got a really good kicking game,” Bellamy said after the game.
“Hughesy sort of takes that role when he’s playing, but with Mun (Cameron Munster) and Wish (Tyran Wishart), they’re really good ball-runners and great competitors, but we just thought we needed someone out there whose strength is organising, he did a really good job tonight.”
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‘Rough chance’ Hughes to return from broken arm
Despite the breakout performance of his young playmaker, Bellamy was non-committal when asked if Pezet would hold his place for the Storm’s preliminary final in a fortnight, suggesting the club was hopeful star Jahrome Hughes may be fit to return from a broken arm.
“I’m not putting pressure on him, but I think there’s a rough chance Hughesy might be back,” Bellamy said.
“Hopefully we can make that decision as soon as possible, just get it organised and the team can train as a team, especially the week leading into our next game.”
‘The great halves have a bit of arrogance about them’
Should Pezet be called upon again for the preliminary final, he’ll certainly have no shortage of fans. That includes the recently announced St George Illawarra assistant coach Michael Ennis who sensed a big performance was brewing from the 22-year-old.
“Have a look when he first walks out onto the field, have a look at this,” Ennis said on Fox league as cameras caught Pezet smiling and laughing before the biggest moment of his 18-match NRL career.
“The great halves have a bit of arrogance about them, and I say this respectfully, when you think of blokes like Andrew Johns, Ricky Stuart, Allan Langer, Johnathan Thurston, Cooper Cronk.
“I thought he was man of the match tonight, Jonah Pezet.”